By Tay Wiles, Mission Local
San Francisco has become the first city in the country to launch citywide police station “safe zones” for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, staffed with police liaisons trained to serve that community.
All 10 police district stations in San Francisco now have signs that designate the station as a safe zone and state that “LGBT individuals will be treated with respect, compassion and honesty.” The signs are intended as a preventive measure against hate crimes and a way to encourage victims to report incidents.
The police department’s LGBT Advisory Forum is leading the effort in partnership with the SFPD, community groups like the Castro Community on Patrol and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of charitable street performers who use high camp and satire to combat sexual intolerance.
“This is a historical moment,” said Sister Pat N Leather, who appeared in her mock nun’s habit beside San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr at a kickoff event at Mission Station this week. In Washington state, Leather said, police have tried creating a room for LGBT community members within a police station, but she believes that San Francisco’s planned program is the country’s most extensive yet.
Read the complete story at Mission Local.